Deadly Secrets
by Paine3
Summary: New Yevon likes its secrets. Which happen to involve murder and a race believed to be extinct. Now Baralai must deal with a woman who'd do ANYTHING to protect her old friend's secrets and Paine. But why would Paine be in danger?
1. Promises

Hi again. I can't believe I'm actually putting this up here. And just so you don't ask: this isn't a FMA crossover, I just couldn't think of anything else ok. And yes it's about Paine (sort of) again…I know typical me, but what'd you expect really.

* * *

Baralai and high ranked members of New Yevon were having just a little bit of trouble. There had been a murder, but it wasn't the person that had been killed that concerned them. It was how they had died. The murder weapon was a weapon that could not be found, and the only known person that could have used the illegal type of magic that had practically caused the victims internal organs to explode, was dead.

"Rachel Nock. She was executed ten years ago for using alchemy. There's not much about her in our archives sir. Just her name, her age, how she died, and this picture of her." Baralai stared at the information on the screen. The young woman who stared back was smiling, but it looked a little bit forced. She had long brown hair and dark violet eyes and was very pretty to say the least. There was something familiar about her, had he seen her before? Was it her face, her smile, her hair, or maybe her eyes? Baralai didn't know he simply knew that something about her was so familiar to him but he couldn't figure out what!

"Does she have any children?" He asked his colleague.

"It doesn't say. It does say that she was close friends with a Crystal Meyer." The screen changed to show a woman with short dark yellow hair that ended in orange tips and sky blue eyes. "She's still alive. Age: 36, lives in Kilika, not married and she has no children." Baralai thought she looked rather young for 36 and certainly didn't dress like an islander. More like someone living in Bevelle, her coat had Yevon symbols on the shoulders. She certainly didn't look like someone who'd be best friends with Rachel's 'kind'.

"I think we should pay her a visit."

* * *

"_-Age: 36, lives in Kilika, not married and she has no children."_

"_I think we should pay her a visit."_

Crystal sat at her desk in her hut in Kilika calmly watching the scene in Bevelle. She was a rather talented hacker and had hacked into the security camera to keep up to date on what was going on 'behind the scenes'. And this was a rather sad development indeed. Crystal stood up, brushing stray bangs out of her face and shuffled around preparing her hut for what she knew would come one day, but had come too soon.

* * *

"Woohoo! Another sphere in the bag!" Rikku exclaimed jumping up and down as they walked through Besaid Forest. 

"Paine you don't look excited." Yuna pointed out.

"It's just another sphere is all…what's there to be excited about?" The silver haired warrior asked.

"I dunno it's just-" She was cut off by Yuna's little portable comsphere Shinra gave her.

"Hello? Who are-"

"My name is Crys, Crystal Meyer, and you must be Lady Yuna, it's an honor to meet you. You're friend Shinra linked me to you when I contacted your airship."

"O…k…um so is there something I can help you with uh…Mrs.-"

"Please Lady Yuna call me Crys, and yes actually there is something you can help me with. Is there a Paine with you by any chance?" Paine froze as Yuna and Rikku stared at her questioningly.

"What did she say her name was again?" Paine whispered.

"Crys." Yuna answered holding up the comsphere so Paine could she the woman's face. (A/N: It's a two way comsphere ok, pretend.)

"You! No way, I'm not talking to you!"

"Paine this is important." Crystal said in a commanding tone. "But…rather private."

"Whatever you say in front of Painey you can say to us too!" Rikku declared.

"Paine please!" Crystal pleaded. There was a long pause.

"Rikku…I'd rather you leave the two of us alone for a while." Paine said quietly. Crystal sighed in relief.

"Ok then." Yuna tossed the comsphere to Paine who caught it. "We'll be at Lulu's."

"Ok." When they were out of sight Paine turned and began walking quickly in the opposite direction. "What do you want Crys." She asked quietly and harshly.

"Paine please why must you be like this? Sure last time we talked was like 10 years ago and…not on good circumstances but-"

"Get to the point!" Paine growled.

"There's been a murder Paine."

"And I should care _because_?"

"Because the person was killed by an alchemist." Paine stopped and opened her mouth to answer before closing it again. Finally she looked away from the comsphere.

"Fine…you have my attention."

* * *

"Who do you think that Crystal woman is?" Yuna asked Rikku as they walked towards the village. 

"I dunno but she knows Paine so I guess she's alright."

"But Paine didn't seem to want to talk to her."

"Maybe something happened between them."

"Yeah maybe."

* * *

Back in Kilika, Crystal was talking to Paine who was very unhappy to say the least. "How far are you willing to go Crys?" Paine asked seriously. 

"I'd die before I did anything to jeopardize you."

"Like you did for Rachel." The girl said skeptically and Crystal felt a surge of anger.

"Don't you dare go blaming me for that!" She yelled.

"_We have to do something! We've got to save her!" _

"_We can't! You're an 8 year old girl what can you possibly accomplish!"_

That was part of the last conversation the two had ten years ago about an hour before Crystal's best friend was killed. "Rachel entrusted me with her greatest secrets. Isn't that enough for you to trust me?" Before Paine answered Crystal heard the creaking of boards outside her hut. There were voices, men's voices, whispering to one another. Rifles clicked as their owners cocked them. "Damnit."

"Wh-"

"Keep quiet!" She stood up and grabbed a rifle of her own from a far corner of her hut. Just as the flap was ripped back she aimed and fired. Glass shattered everywhere, she had destroyed her computer. Paine was safe, now they couldn't trace the connection to find who she was talking too. "Took ya long enough Mr. Praetor." Baralai stared between the shattered modem and the middle aged woman resting a large gun on her shoulder. "What's the matter?"

"You were expecting us?" He asked.

"Of course. I'm not senile Praetor. I am rather good at _spying_, for lack of a better word, and I knew you were coming to 'talk'. What is it you want to talk about again?"

"You're friend."

"Oh my friend, that really narrows it down. My dead friend? Well if that's what you're hear for I've got two words for you." She twirled her weapon in one hand as if it was a baton. "Look up." Baralai and all the guards that actually fit in the door looked up at her ceiling where a large black box was taped to the ceiling. "Very innovative no? I made it myself. There's also a gas can in that corner over there." She pointed to it. "I shoot that box, it blows, and the fire it starts will spread to the gas can…and boom."

"What is this for!" Baralai demanded while the guards started to panic.

"I have a promise to keep." And she shot it the bomb too. "You have ten seconds!" She screamed over the roaring flames that quickly fell to the floor and spread across her the wood boards.

"You're insane!"

"I know! 9! 8! 7! 6!" The guards fled out the door and ran down the pier as far away from the burning house as possible. Crystal was suddenly gripped by fear and turned towards her 'escape route' aka her window while counting down in her head. _4_. The fire blocked her path on its course towards the strategically placed gas can. _3._ She wrenched a floorboard up but the hole was too small, she couldn't fit. _2._ While grabbing another and tossing it into the flames that consumed her hut she thought of Paine. Paine, Rachel, and Rachel's greatest secret, greatest treasure, the one person she had loved above all else…

_**1**_


	2. Is It Her?

People rushed out of their homes to see what all the noise was about. There was a hut on fire! Crystal Meyer, who moved to Kilika a little over a year ago, lived there…or had lived there. Now the sudden question on everyone's mind was: Was their friend still alive. The Praetor of New Yevon and his guards were trying desperately to put out the fire, and had successfully prevented its spread to other houses, since she did live rather far away from anyone else. But they knew that if Mrs. Meyer had been inside when her house exploded she was dead for sure. And they hadn't seen her leave.

"Sir, how are we going to get information on the Al-"

"Keep your voice down!" Baralai hissed.

"Sorry Sir. How are we going to get information on the 'suspect' if her only friend is now dead too?"

"I'm sure we can find someone else who knew this Rachel woman," he answered. "If not we'll just have to wait."

"Until another mur-!" Baralai now covered the soldier's mouth.

"There is no alternative; though I do not wish to put anyone in danger," he said solemnly. "If you can think of a better plan-"

"No Sir, sorry Sir. I can not."

"Wait…she was apparently talking to someone before we arrived. Maybe there's a chance a passerby heard parts of their conversation!"

"What makes you think the conversation was relevant to our investigation."

"Why else would she have shot her computer but to prevent us from finding out to whom she was talking." Baralai said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. (And it kind of was too.)

* * *

Baralai asked the crowd who lived next door to Mrs. Meyer. Two people raised their hands and he asked that they come with him. They did and he went to a secluded part of the town away from the large crowd of people. "What is it you be wantin Mr. Baralai Sir?" Said a young man about Baralai's age. The other one was an elderly woman, who didn't say anything at all.

"Did either one of you overhear a conversation inside Mrs. Meyer's house before the fire?"

"Oh no Sir, I don't go 'round eavesdropping on peoples Sir."

"I-I heard an argument going on young man." The old woman said in a croaky voice.

"And you are ma'am?"

"This is my grandma Sir-OW!" The boy yelped as his grandmother hit him over the head with her cane.

"I am perfectly capable of answering myself." She said irritably. "Yes I heard an argument coming from her house; it sounded like her and another young woman."

"Did you hear anything about a girl named Rachel?"

"Why yes…yes I believe that name was mentioned."

"Anything else you can tell me?"

"No that was all I could make out."

"We're very sorry, Mr. Baralai, that we can't be more help to ya." The man said.

"That's quite alright." He replied a little disappointed that he didn't even have a name, just the description 'young woman'. _That really narrows it down. _He thought bitterly.

* * *

Something wasn't right, Paine knew Crystal pretty well from when she was little, and by the looks of things her attitude hadn't changed much. She was always rash, stubborn, and loyal. When she promised she'd keep Paine and Rachel's secrets safe no matter what the cost…she meant it! Crystal was also very smart and had talents in many things and could probably set a very interesting trap in less than half an hour.

An interesting, yet dangerous, trap that could probably put Crystal's very life in jeopardy.

But Paine was smart too, she wanted to go see what was going on at Kilika, but she knew better. If there had been someone murdered by an alchemist then Yevonites would be flooding to Crystal's house, and where alchemist hunting Yevonites were, was the last place Paine should be.

Paine walked down to Besaid village and saw a blond headed young man emerging from Lulu's hut. He spotted her and waved. "Hi Paine!"

"Hey Tidus." She said with a halfhearted wave.

"What's up?"

"Nothing," Paine sighed. "Where're Yuna and Rikku?"

"Inside of course."

"Of course." Paine walked past Yuna's boyfriend and into the hut.

"Hey Painey back so soon?" Rikku asked happily. "What important thing did you're friend want to talk about?"

"Oh…nothing **really** important." Paine lied. "She thinks some things that are so stupid to be important…it's really quite annoying actually, just like you." Rikku just pouted as always.

"Meanie."

"So who is she exactly?" Yuna asked.

"Crys? Just someone I knew when I was a kid."

"Oh ok."

"So…what do we do now?" Paine asked. "I mean we have the sphere, do we just go back to the Celsius?"

"Yeah sure why not."

* * *

Reaching out of the water a hand grasped a leafy vine that hung over a foot high grass covered cliff. Another hand reached up and grabbed onto the edge. Using all the energy she had left, a young woman pulled herself up.

_Crystal dove head first into the hole in her floor just as the flames reached the can and exploded. There was another set of boards about 15 feet under her house and she crashed though them and hit the water soon after. The blast caused her to do numerous flips in the water and she sank deep into the depths. _

_She broke the surface as debris from her hut fell around her. Faintly she heard people screaming and footsteps somewhere above her head. Diving again, she swam towards a far side of the forest, where she wouldn't be seen from the village. _

"I-I made it-WOAH!" Something grabbed Crystal's leg and began pulling her under! Down, down, and down she went, unable to shake the fiend that had bitten onto her leg. She was going to die this time! She couldn't breath! She needed air! The dark blue water became darker and darker as she was dragged deeper down.

There was a flash of bright blue light above her, and Crystal felt the fiend die and the pyreflies disperse. Back on the surface a girl with dirty blond hair and deep purple eyes slipped her glove back onto her right hand before standing up and diving down to retrieve Crystal's still sinking body.

She stopped beside her and, grabbing Crystal by the shoulders, she kicked and brought the woman back up to the fresh air and pulled her to the land. "Who…" Crystal looked into the girl's eyes. "…Rachel…is that you?" The girl looked fearfully at Crystal, looking her up and down, before running off into the trees.


	3. Sierra

Paine was staring out the window of the cabin while sitting on her bed and half listening to the other three bickering about something, she forgot what. "Come on Tidus it'll be fun." Oh yeah, Yuna and Rikku wanted to go shopping in Luca.

"Ok, ok I'll go!" Tidus yelled finally giving in. "But I'm not going into any of those girly stores ok!"

"Yes!" Both cousins exclaimed jumping up and down. "Hey Paine do you wanna come too?" Rikku asked even though she knew Paine would say no.

"Yeah sure…I don't have anything better to do."

"What!" All three of them were surprised.

"We deserve a day off don't ya think?"

"Well then Luca here we come!" Rikku hopped off the loft and landed gently on the floor.

"Gullwings! Report to the Bridge!"

"Perfect timing eh?" Tidus chuckled as Rikku started cursing in Al Bhed.

"What does tattoo boy want now?" Paine asked scowling.

* * *

"Baralai?" Yuna said curiously as Paine went as pale as death. Baralai had contacted them, he apparently needed there help.

"Lady Yuna I regret having to come to you with this but…have you seen this woman anywhere?" He held up a picture of a young woman, much older than them, with short blond hair with orange tips. Crystal.

"Uh…"

"No." Paine interjected stepping forward. "Never seen her before, who is she?" Yuna and Rikku stared at her.

"Her name is Crystal Meyer, she lived in Kilika-"

"Lived?" Paine blurted out.

"Yes, earlier today she set her house on fire-"

"How do you know it was her?"

"Because I was there. She set it on fire and soon after it exploded."

"Was anyone hurt?" Rikku asked worriedly.

"None of the villagers were around at the time and we successfully contained the fire, but Ms. Meyer's whereabouts are still unknown. She was still inside when we left." Paine looked as if someone had just punched her in the stomach.

"So what do you want with us?" She asked keeping her voice surprisingly level.

"We would appreciate if you would help us find her that's all." He said smiling.

"If there's anything to find."

"Tidus!"

"What Yuna, I was just stating a fact."

"So will you help us?" Baralai asked.

"Well…"

"Yes." Paine said firmly. "We'll help, we'll be there soon."

* * *

"Why did you lie to Baralai, Paine?" Yuna asked the warrior as the four rode the lift down to the Engine Room.

"I have my reasons," she said monotonously.

"So," Rikku sighed, "that means that you're not going to tell us either."

"Basically."

"Paine!"

"Rikku just…let it go." The doors opened and Paine stepped out. She turned halfway around and looked straight at the Al Bhed. "And trust me. I'll tell you, sometime, if you just do that for me. Fair enough?"

"……Fine." Rikku pouted.

"Good. So there's no problem then."

* * *

"O my Yevon." Paine saw the charred remains where a house once stood, that must be her's then.

"Paine, hey!" Baralai trotted over to them, smiling again. "Glad you could get here so fast. It's good to see you." Paine, who could not honestly say the same, simply smiled but remained silent. "So, shall we get started?"

"Sure." As soon as Yuna, Rikku, and Tidus had caught up to them, they began walking away towards the forest, Baralai talking animatedly and Paine simply nodding, or smiling, or sometimes even laughing.

"Ahh, young love, isn't it wonderful." Rikku said dreamily.

"Don't let Gippal hear you say that Rikku!" Paine called over her shoulder. "Don't want to give him ideas! Or…do you?" Everyone laughed, except Rikku. _What would Crys say here? _Paine frowned as she thought about it. She'd probably scold her, and remind her of what happened to Rachel.

"Come on, the sooner we find Ms. Meyer, I think, the better." Baralai said dragging her off.

* * *

"Ok we'll search over there, you four can search over there ok?" Baralai said pointing in two directions indicating where he and his guards would search and where the Gullwings would.

"Got it," Yuna nodded. "We'll contact you if we find anything." And the two groups went their separate ways. After searching for about a quarter of an hour the four turned down a new path and suddenly heard a twig or two snap to the right.

"Who's there?" Tidus shouted drawing his Brotherhood.

"I-I…" It sounded like a younger version of Paine, everyone looked at her.

"Was that you?"

"No." The warrior took a cautious step forward.

"Don't come any closer!" Whoever was there apparently took a few steps backwards. "I-I'm warning y-you!"

"Come out, we won't hurt you." Yuna said softly also stepping forward to stand next to Paine. She stepped closer to where the girl's voice was coming from. "Hi." Yuna spotted the girl who was cowering in the foliage. "I'm Yuna, what's your name?"

"L-Lady…Yuna?"

"Yep that's our Yunie alright!" Rikku hopped beside Yuna scaring the girl so she sank deeper into the darkness. "Oops sorry kid, I didn't mean to scare ya."

"Y-You're Ri-Rikku, the Al B-Bhed Princess…aren't you." The girl said pointing a shaky gloved finger at the Al Bhed who turned a distinct shade of pink.

"Uh…yeah. You're not an Al Bhed are you?" The girl possessed purple eyes, and dirty blond hair, so that meant that she couldn't be an Al Bhed.

"N-No…but I was raised by one, h-he worked for Rin." The girl slapped her hand over her mouth. "I s-shouldn't have told y-you that!" She stood up quickly and dashed out onto the path and in the opposite direction of the four.

"Hold it right there!" Paine dove and grabbed onto the girl's bare foot and she tripped. The girl looked fearfully over her shoulder, showing a very pretty silver necklace hanging around her neck which had a Yevon symbol on it. "Where'd you get-AH!" The girl kicked Paine hard in the face and ran off again. "Damn, you little brat!"

Rikku, Yuna, and Tidus sprinted after the girl, past Paine who seemed lost in thought. Tidus pounced on her bringing them both to the ground with a loud crash. "G-Get off…of me!" The girl cried as the two rolled over on the ground. She clutched his arm tightly with her gloved right hand. "No…STOP!" Without warning there was a flash of blue light and Tidus could be heard wailing in agony.

"Tidus!" Yuna screamed as a black blur rushed past her. Paine was feet from the two when she heard shouting.

"I saw it! Over there, that light! Alchemy, it must be!" Paine looked at the girl.

"You're an Alchemist?" She asked quietly in awe. There was another flash of light and Yuna Rikku and Paine lay sprawled on the ground, two unmoving. "Well…can't say I didn't see that coming." Standing up Paine jogged over to Tidus…he was alive. "Oh thank Yevon." Then footsteps drew nearer.

"_Don't ever show this to anyone you can't trust! Don't ever let yourself get caught in a situation like this… if you do run. Like you're life depends on it! Because it does"_

In a sudden, uncharacteristic panic attack, Paine ran just like the girl had, too caught up in Rachel's old warning to realize she had nothing to fear.

* * *

Paine crashed through the trees running like her 'life depended on it'. She had no clue where she was running too, but she ended up at the edge of the forest before long. "Paine!" She looked to her left quickly.

"Crys? You're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive." Paine rushed to her and knelt down.

"Oh my Yevon thank-…wait…You blew up your house!"

"Yep, that was fun." Paine didn't laugh. "Ok, not funny."

"How could you do such a thing Crys?" She asked quietly. "I can't believe you."

"That's not surprising."

"What happened to your leg?" Paine asked changing the subject.

"Fiend." Crystal replied looking at her leg which she had bandaged with her sleeve, she may have been smart, but she couldn't perform magic worth anything. And she had left all her items back home. "Now I have no clue what I'm to do if they come looking for me." _Do I mention the girl? I'm not positive if it's her or not…Rachel's daughter, and after all this time I finally get to see her again, it's so surreal. I knew it may happen eventually, but…IT'S NOT FAIR! _

"That's easy," Paine said, before healing the appendage effortlessly. "Just take this," She handed her Yuna's comsphere which she still had from before; "I'll call you from the airship tonight. I can get Gippal, the Machine Faction leader, to come pick you up and I'll call you when he's on his way and we can arrange a place for you to meet away from where people can see you. He's Al Bhed so you can trust him."

"You've got this all worked out don't you," Crystal laughed.

"I learned from the best."

"Aww that's so sweet thanks Paine."

"I was talking about Shinra but…oh well." Both laughed at this.

"That's mean."

"It's true."

"Whatever." They sat in silence for a few moments. "Why are you here?" Crystal asked finally.

"Baralai asked me too come look for you," Paine answered. "Don't worry I didn't say anything, I'm not stupid."

"So now what?"

"I go back to the others and we wait."

"That sounds easy."

* * *

"Paine?" Baralai looked up as Paine walked back to the clearing where she had left her unconscious friends. "Where were you?"

"What happened to them?" she asked monotonously, ignoring the question.

"They were attacked. You mean to say you weren't with them?"

"No," Paine lied. "We split up a while ago. Who attacked them?"

"We don't know."

"What do you think it was?" Baralai hesitated a bit. He shuffled his feet while thinking of something to say. Finally he decided to go with the truth.

"Paine, have you heard of people called Alchemists?"

"Like my dressphere?"

"No, not that kind. They were once a proud race of people, but after Sin came and the religion of Yevon was instated they turned on the other people." _Liar! _Paine thought furiously. "The new people of Yevon had no choice but to annihilate Alchemists before they annihilated the people."

"So you murdered them." Paine couldn't keep the anger out of her voice.

"Murder, is such a strong word."

"But true!"

"Yes, it is true. But they would have killed all of the people! If the people hadn't stopped them…who knows, maybe they could have killed one of your ancestors! They did the right thing. Now an Alchemist has killed someone, and we have to find it."

"Well if an Alchemist did this to my friends then I…don't want any part in this!"

"What! You don't want to catch the person who almost killed them!" _Purple eyes, dirty-blond hair, that necklace…it has to be her, she's the right age too. Sierra...

* * *

_

The purple eyed teen ran through the trees, her bare feet cutting on twigs and rocks. She tripped over a large branch, but an arm caught her by her shoulder. The strong limb jerked the shaking alchemist up and her violet eyes met emerald ones. The pupils were normal so it was not an Al Bhed. Looking the figure that clutched her shoulder the girl saw that the figure had a head band covering her right eye, a black mask covered half her face. And the woman was also heavily armed. She had shuriken strapped to her back, and pouches the girl assumed held more weapons or items. "Hello." The woman said sweetly.

"W-Who-"

"Oh you don't need to worry about who I am….Sierra." She reached into one of her pouches and pulled out something grasped in her hand but the needle poking out scared the girl almost senseless.

"What is t-that!" Sierra squeaked.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." The masked woman jammed the needle into Sierra's arm. The teenager didn't scream but her eyes widened in shock and she gapped up at the woman as she pushed some clear liquid from the needle into her system, then removed it from her arm. A numbness spread through Sierra's body, sinking to her knees her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed.

The masked woman reached into the same pouch again and pulled out a slip of paper and unfolded it. It was a picture of three people, one adult and two kids. The adult woman had purple eyes and brown hair and she was smiling broadly. On her shoulders sat a small child, barely older than four, whose eyes were closed and her head rested on the top of the woman's head, sleeping. The two looked related, mother and daughter maybe. The woman had her arms wrapped around the third girl, who bore almost no similitude to the other two at all. Her eyes were red, and her hair was a light grayish-brown. Her small pale hand clutched a silver chain around her neck. She was smiling reluctantly but her eyes showed happiness.

"One down, one to go," the woman whispered, then she slipped the paper back into her pocket.


	4. Manipulating the Praetor

"No I don't want to find who hurt them! Because if I do then you'll kill them!" Paine yelled at Baralai.

"If you knew half the things those people did years ago," said Baralai as calmly as he could, "you'd want them dead too."

"I doubt that!" _You killed her!_ Paine thought, although she wanted to scream it, she had kept her anger inside so long it was about to burst out of her. _It was people like you who killed Rachel! I lost the only mother I had because of them; I won't lose the closest thing I had to a sister too. _She shook with fury. "I'm not going to help you anymore! And that's FINAL! I'm out of here." And she turned around and stormed off.

"Paine! Paine wait!" Baralai hurried after her retreating back. "What's you're problem!"

"You!" She yelled over her shoulder, picking up her pace, "who knew you Yevonites were such asses. Oh wait…I DID."

"Then why are you here!" Paine stopped so abruptly it took Baralai about a second to notice. Then she turned right around and walked up to him determinedly, and punched him hard in the face and he fell to the floor.

"So I could do that."

* * *

"You punched him?" Paine sighed and leaned back in Shinra's chair. Gippal was laughing his head off in Djose at the moment.

"Yes, yes, yes!" the warrior said impatiently, propping her feet up on the console. "Now can you help me?"

"What, smuggle you're fugitive friend out of Kilika right under Baralai's bloody nose?" he started laughing a little again, "Sure I'll help. But even if he did find out, it's **you**; he wouldn't kill you, no matter who your mother was."

"Rachel wasn't my mother." Paine said blankly, looking away. "But this is about Crys, not Rae or my mom. Can you pick her up tonight?"

"I can go right now; we should be there by dark. But still Dr. P, think about it-"

"Gippal!" she said warningly. "People live on this boat with me, if they overheard you…!"

"Rikku, Shinra and Buddy wouldn't care, you know that. Tidus and Brother probably don't know what Alchemists are. Yuna, well its Yuna, enough said. Where are the others anyway? Your little friend didn't hurt them too much right?"

"They're in the Cabin. Baralai could stand long enough to order his 'posse' to bring them back to the airship, they're all sleeping. They should be fine."

"Thanks to you of course," said Gippal.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm gonna go, after I call Crystal and tell her what's going on."

"No, I'll do it. Get some sleep; you've had a long day."

"Thanks, Gippal," Paine said, hanging up on the Al Bhed. She stood up and rubbed her eyes, she was so exhausted. "Ten years," she muttered to herself as she walked up the stairs and into the hallway and towards the elevator. "That's how long it's been since I've seen her…Maybe I shouldn't have left her with that Al Bhed. But I couldn't have taken care of a five year old girl by myself." Paine didn't even realize she was already halfway down the hallways leading to the cabin. "She probably hates me now, or maybe doesn't even remember me."

"Who doesn't remember you?" The girl's head snapped up. Tidus was sitting on a barstool, looking at her.

"Oh, hey Tidus. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, that girl was kinda freaky wasn't she?"

"Yeah…," Paine said. She made to walk past him towards the stairs but he stopped her.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"No. Everything is fine," Paine lied. "And if there was, why would I tell you?" Tidus smiled at her.

"Good point," he said. "Going to bed?"

"Yeah. Goodnight." Paine walked upstairs and over to her bed. Yuna and Rikku were still asleep. Gippal was right; her friends would not care if she told them her secrets. Or would they? There was just too much doubt and distrust in her mind to bring herself to tell anyone. So she would not tell anyone. Not just yet.

* * *

Sierra had been awake for little over an hour. In that hour she had done nothing more than sit on a cold stone floor in a dark and empty room, wondering where she was and where her necklace had gone to. In the ten years she had that necklace she had never let it out of her sight, it was that important to her.

There was a door that led out of the small room, it was ajar slightly but there was no light in the other room either. And she was afraid to leave the room in the dark.

She was freezing and her legs had fallen asleep by the time a light did come on. Shakily, Sierra made her way over to the door and looked outside. The other room was full of a variety of things, weapons, sphere-screens, different machines, and even a large amount of test-tubes, flasks and beakers almost all of which were filled with different colored liquid, most were shades of yellow or blue. _What's going on here?_ She asked herself. Suddenly she heard footsteps and the same masked woman who had captured her in Kilika came into view.

She looked much smaller and less menacing without all her weapons strapped to her. Then she reached up and pulled off her headband and brushed her shockingly white hair out of her face and Sierra saw why she wore the headband over her eye. She was blind in it. Next she took off her mask and threw it onto a table. Her one working eye found its way to the door where Sierra was hiding. Sierra feared at first that the woman could see her but apparently she was nearsighted or Sierra was too hidden, or both.

Another door off the side of the room opened and she turned her head away from Sierra's hiding spot. "What do you want? I told you not to disturb me unless it's-"

"I'm sorry miss," said a rushed male voice. "But the Praetor wishes to speak with you."

"The Praetor? Hmm," the woman smiled and her eye traveled for only a moment back to Sierra's room. "Very well, tell him I'll be right there."

"Yes ma'am." And the door closed again. The strange woman went over to a coat rack that Sierra had not noticed before and took a blue lab coat off of a hook, then she rushed out of Sierra's line of sight and Sierra heard the door open and close again.

* * *

"Come in!" Baralai told the visitor knocking at his office door. The door swung open and an older woman, early thirties, walked in. She had on a long blue coat, had snow white hair, and stunning green eyes. One, however, was sightless and there was a scar that stretched from one inch above it to one inch below it. "Oh, it's you, I'm glad you could make it here so quickly!" Baralai gestured to a chair in front of his desk. "Please, sit down." The woman sat down obligingly.

"Now, what is it you wanted me for Praetor Baralai?" she asked politely. "I'm quite busy, so if you could please make it-"

"Oh, I won't take long," Baralai assured her. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions about a young woman you used to work with."

"Crys Meyer," said the woman knowledgably with a small nod.

"Uh, yes."

"Well then, I'm afraid I can't help you. I haven't been in contact with Crystal in years. And I'm sure I can't help you find her if that's what you're after."

"But maybe, since you worked with her-"

"Not gonna happen."

"And why-?" She pushed a few stray bangs out of her eyes so she was sure Baralai could see her injured eye clearly. "Oh," he muttered, looking down at his desk.

"We had a small disagreement, way back when, and she tried to kill me because of itbut only succeeded in permanently damaging my eyesight. That's also why we aren't working together anymore…go figure."

"I didn't know," said Baralai. "Well may I ask-"

"What the disagreement was about? What do you think it was about?"

"Maybe her family? Or friends?"

"Friends," said the woman calmly. She smiled inwardly; everything was going according to plan. As long as she chose her next words carefully she could have Baralai eating out of the palm of her hand. "Rachel Nock would be the friend in particular. And family I guess too, because of her…children." Baralai nearly fell out of his chair and she fought to hide her smile.

"C-CHILDREN?"


	5. Victim or Stalker

"Yes, yes, calm down young man," said the woman calmly. "Here, take this," she took out the photo of Sierra, her mother and Paine, and tossed it on the Praetor's desk. "That might help you a bit." She stood up, and turned to leave.

"Wait, don't you want to help me with this?" Baralai asked quickly.

"You don't need my help,"she said, "And like I said, I'm busy. Goodnight Praetor."

"Goodnight. I'll get to this tomorrow."

"Ok, have fun with that." The woman left, closing the door behind her with a snap.

* * *

Paine woke up the next day to bright sunlight streaming through the cabin window, and happened to find herself on the cabin floor. "Good morning sleepy head!" The warrior groaned. 

"Yuna…what time is it…?" she asked slowly, picking her head off the floor.

"About ten," the woman answered her. "So, got any plans for today?" Paine sat down on her bed and nodded, while rubbing her temples to rid herself of the headache she had received from falling hard onto the ground. "And what would that be?"

"Bevelle," she answered shortly.

"Going to apologize to Baralai?" Yuna's friend looked up at her curiously.

"How'd you-"

"We talked to Gippal earlier, he called looking for you. He told us what happened after that girl attacked," Yuna said.

"How much did he tell you?" Paine asked.

"Just that: you punched Baralai because you two had a fight. He didn't say what it was about."

"Well, no, I'm not going to go apologize to that jerk," Paine said, standing up to face Yuna. "I'm going home."

* * *

Paine's old home was nothing but a pile ofdirt, ashand a few bricks. That was something that the warrior had not expected. Although, since she had not been back to this place since she left it ten years ago, running like mad with a sphere recorder in one hand, and Sierra's small hand clutched tightly in the other, she really did not know what to expect.

"It's all gone…" she muttered, stepping up onto the lot. All the furniture, the old sphere screen she and Sierra used to watch all the time, it was all gone. Walking through the area, Paine scanned the ground. That'swhen she saw something sparkling on the ground, covered almost completely by dirt. It was a sphere! No, two of them!

Excitedly, Paine reached down and brushed thedirt off of a blue sphere and a red sphere. "How'd this get by unnoticed?" she asked aloud with a small laugh. The girl remembered putting spheres exactly like these into a pinewood box with a bunch of photos before she left for the last time. The box and the pictures must have been destroyed but the spheres had survived and were still in suprisingly good condition.

Paine picked it up the red one, and quickly turned it on.

"_Paine! Put that down, I don't want you to break it." The sphere focused on Rachel, in what looked like an ordinary living room, she was sitting on her couch, with a small girl sleeping in her lap._

"_Aw come on Rae, I won't drop it."_

"_You like that camera, don't you Paine?" Rachel asked the person behind the camera. The young girl holding it giggled._

"_Yep! I'm gonna be some kind of recorder some day, maybe for the news!" Rachel laughed._

"_I'm sure you will," she said happily. "But until then, that's still my camera and-" suddenly there was a knock on the front door behind the couch and Rachel turned her head to look over her shoulder. _

"_Open up!" a man roared, pounding on the door. "Bevellian guard!" Rachel picked her daughter off her lap gently and placed her on the other end of the couch, before standing up. "Ms. Nock!"_

"_Rae…" Paine said slowly. _

"_Shh!" Rachel hushed her. The older woman stepped up to the door and opened it a crack. A person dressed all in Bevellian armor, with a helmet hiding his face, stood just outside. Rachel just stood there staring at the person before she opened the door completely with a smug look on her face. The guard was completely silent, until of course Rachel kicked him in the crotch. _

"_OW! Oh, for the love of Yevon!" Paine started laughing really hard, so hard she almost dropped the camera. "What the hell was that for?" the guard asked the violet eyed woman._

"_You scared the shit out of me Zeke!" Rachel yelled. "I thought you were a real guard!" The man, who had fallen over in pain, stood up and removed his helmet. He was blond with brown eyes, very handsome. He looked about the same age as Rachel, around 26. _

"_Hey, I am a real guard," Zeke said. "And I'm going to have to talk to my commander about modifying our equipment. I'm sorry I scared you. But, if you don't mind I've come to stay for a few days, while everyone else thinks I'm in Luca visiting a sick grandmother." Rachelsmiled before hugging the man tightly. "I missed you Rachel," he said softly. _

"_I'm glad you're here," the woman whispered before letting him go. Zeke then looked towards the camera. Paine quickly put it down somewhere then rushed into view._

"_Zeke you're back!" she exclaimed, jumping into the man's waiting arms. He twirled her around a view times, before setting her down again. _

"_Of course I am, been a while hasn't it Paine. I see you're still in love with that camera." Paine nodded her brown haired head vigorously. Rachel smiled and walked over to the couch again. She leaned over and gently shook her daughter awake. _

"_Sierra…Sierra wake up…someone is here to see you." Zeke sat down next to the girl._

"_Hey baby…" he said quietly, stroking the tiny girl's dirty-blond hair as she woke up and blinked her eyes a few times, rubbing them with her small hands._

"_Daddy?" Sierra squeaked, turning her head to look up at him. Paine ran over to the camera, and then she shut it off. _

The present-day Paine wiped away a tear from her eye. She leaned down and picked the other sphere up, and placed them both in her pockets. Deciding she would watch the other one later, since she already knew what it contained.

She walked back to the street, and decided to take a walk around the city. Of course it was as crowded as ever.

Paine stopped again in the town square. That was where Rachel had been killed, right in front of her eyes and the eyes of most of Bevelle. "Paine?" The warrior turned around, recognizing the voice. "What brings you to Bevelle?"

"None of your business," she snapped at Baralai. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way to someone's house," he said, "Would you like to come with me?"

"Not really," Paine said. Baralai looked sad, trying to make Paine feel guilty. His friend scowled.

"Paine, please, I don't want to do this alone, too boring," begged the Praetor.

"Fine," Paine sighed.

"Yes!" Baralai almost jumped into the air with happiness. "Oh and…" the smile wiped off his face. "I'm very sorry about what-"

"Let's not talk about it," the girl said irritably. "Just lead the way."

* * *

"This is it…I think," said Baralai, looking at a piece of paper in his hand. The house was more like a tiny rundown shack, unlike the nice fancy Bevellian houses on either side of it. It was obvious no one lived there. _So why are we here exactly?_ Paine asked herself. Baralai began walking up the drive and cautiously pushed open the unlocked door. "Coming Paine?" he called over his shoulder. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Paine muttered, following him into the house. The inside was just as terrible as the outside, if not worse. A moth-eaten armchair across from a small sphere screen, that was broken. The floor was littered with bottles and cans of beer.

Baralai proceeded through the disgusting hovel, but something to her right caught Paine's eye. It was a door. But instead of like the other ones she could see from her spot, this one had a padlock on it. Walking over to it she examined the lock. "Ha!" she said softly. The lock was not even closed. Removing it she pushed open the door, and gasped. It was a small room, about the size of a closet. The walls were covered with pictures, probably hundreds of them! And all of them were of…Sierra! "Oh…my…" Paine whispered, stepping inside the closet. They started with Sierra when she was small, then suddenly she was around thirteen or fourteen.

Whoever had lived in this house had been stalking the girl. Then Paine suddenly realized they were in the victim's house! That's what Baralai was doing here. "BARALAI!" she yelled. There were footsteps and Baralai appeared behind her.

"What the?"

"Baralai…" Paine said again, "what was the name of the man who was murdered?"

"I don't think I'm permitted to-" Paine turned around and grabbed his coat and brought him close to her face.

"What was his name!" she growled. Baralai was shocked at how angry Paine suddenly looked.

"Uh…Haro, I think,"he said, andPaine's eyes narrowed.

"Haro what!"

"Taka. Haro Taka." Paine let him go suddenly and then pushed him out of the way and stepped out of the closet. "Paine!"

"_Ha-ha, now what're ya gonna do ya little freak!"_

"_Let her down Haro!" _

"_Oh, it's the rat. Coming to your little friend's rescue again eh?"_

"_Tell your friends to let her go…" _

"_Or what! I'm not gonna listen to some little kid! I won't let her go until you call me Mr. Taka and show some respect."_

"_You can't be serious."_

"_Boys!"_

"_Ok fine! I'll do anything, just put her down please!" _

That teenager humiliated Paine when she was a child. She hated him! He was always trying to do something to Sierra, but Paine had no idea that he'd grow up stalking her! _I wonder what he did after we disappeared. Sierra must have come back to Bevelle when she got older and he must have found her again. What the hell happened to her to make her kill him, if she did kill him…? _Baralai pulled Paine out of her thoughts and back to reality, "First you hit me, and then you completely freak out-"

"That man was stalking a child," she told him angrily. Baralai looked at one of the pictures of Sierra as a baby, then as a teen, and ripped the younger picture of her off of the wall. Then he took something out of his coat. He unfolded the picture Kim had given him and compared them. "What is that?" Paine asked.

"Just something I got last night to help with this investigation." Baralai said slowly, not taking his eyes off the two pictures. After a few minutes of comparing he ripped the picture of the older Sierra off the wall as well.

"What are you doing Baralai?"

"I think I might know who did it now," he said. "It's just a theory but..."He showed Paine the picture of the three girls. "I think it could be," She expected him to point to the baby sleeping on Rachel's shoulders, instead he pointed to the 8 year-old in the foreground, "her," he said calmly. Paine just stared at him, trying to keep her face blank.

_Oh…shit…_


	6. Ayame

Ok people, sorry it's taken so long. Personal problems...(sigh). Oh well, everybody's got them. :) I'm sorry if this chapter isn't long, or like...good...or anything...But I'm working on some other non-fan fiction related stuff as well as trying to deal with my friends. So during this short break from all that today I decided to write the chapter and post it so I don't forget to do it. So here it is...after months of procrastination! Woo...

* * *

Paine ran out of the dirty shack, and then she hurried to find the nearest comsphere, which was many blocks away, and then she quickly called the Celsius. "Shinra, I need you to pick me up," she told the little boy frantically. 

"Paine, I'm sorry but everyone is shopping in Luca, we're docked here. We can't pick you up for about an hour or two," said Shinra solemnly.

"Well can you please get a hold of Gippal and tell him that I need him to come here to get me?" Paine asked. She looked around to see where she was exactly. She saw a café and told Shinra its name. "I'll be there, got it?"

"Of course," said Shinra, "I'll tell him." The connection was severed from his end, and Paine sat back on her heels. Shinra seemed to get along with Paine much better then he did with any other Gullwing. It was certainly that way for her, most of the time. He was like a little brother to her, but sometimes it made her sad thinking about him that way...

Paine walked into the café and sat down at a table next to a window. After about ten minutes she still remained slumped in her chair, drumming her fingers on the table and staring out the window. _How could he think I did it...sure, he doesn't know it was me...but...Wouldn't Sierra be the first suspect? _Before Paine had hurried out of the house she had presented her question to Baralai. He merely stared at her blankly, before he began to explain his 'professional' opinion. He had been told that the brown haired girl (aka: Paine) was the other girl's (aka: Sierra's) sister. _"If your sister had been stalked, wouldn't you want to do something about it?"_ he had asked her. Apparently he believed that all Alchemists were violent. And that the brown haired girl was probably especially temperamental, having had her mother killed by a Yevonite like Haro Taka so **of course** she would want revenge, and Haro apparently posed the perfect target since he was stalking her sister.

Paine had needed to use extreme self-control to stop herself from rolling around laughing at his pathetic theory. None of it was true at all. Paine wasnot Sierra's biological sister; her relation to the girl was her business. Paine's real mother had been killed when she was two months old, not eight years old, and had been killed by Sin and not Yevonites.

The door to the café opened, a bell ringing above the door to signal to the workers of the arrival of customer. Paine looked up, and smiled once she saw her fellow former Crimson Squad candidate. Gippal spotted her and came to sit down at the table across from her. "Took you long enough," said Paine in mock anger.

"I was in the middle of something," said Gippal. "I do run an entire Faction, in case you haven't noticed."

"Whoa, sorry," said Paine. "Slightly touchy this afternoon, are we?" It was like a complete personality swap. Paine was the one with the smug smile and Gippal looked like he had been stomped on by a Shoopuf.

"You're friend is...an interesting chick," said Gippal tiredly.

"Yes she is," Paine laughed. "What did she do?"

"She likes to talk," Gippal replied. He explained to Paine how the minute Crystal stepped inside Djose Temple to the minute she went to bed hours later, she had not stopped talking. Sure Gippal was curious about her story, at first, but after a while it became one: just a little boring and two: very, very confusing. And once she had finished it she still had not stopped talking, she simply found random topics to annoy him with.

"But she is safe?" Paine asked, needing reassurance. Gippal nodded. "Good..."

"Now what is your big problem?" asked the eye patch wearing young blond. "The kid said you sounded a bit upset."

"Baralai...it's just Baralai. He thinks that I murdered someone...but he doesn't know that the person he suspects is actually me. I know it sounds weird..." and she then told him everything about her trip to the deceased man's house.

"Sierra was stalked?" he gasped. "Well I bet that that man did something really bad. She probably had no choice but to kill him."

"She's so weak and scared," said Paine. "I saw it in her eyes when we met in the forest. She was scared of Yuna, Tidus and Rikku...and even of **me**!" she said, her voice cracking a little. Gippal put his gloved hands over one of her gloved ones instinctively.

"Paine," he said her name softly, "she didn't recognize you."

"I don't want her scared of me...and now she's out in the forest, alone and I..." Paine looked hysterical as she said basically the same thing over and over again. Gippal, no matter how he tried, just could not get through to her. So he pushed his chair over as he stood up and then knelt down next to hers, taking her face in his free hand and forcing her to look him in the eye.

"Calm down!" he commanded. Paine snapped out of it almost immediately. "Come on Dr. P, you're supposed to be the calm one, I'm the one who always screws up. Don't go all emotional on me now." He wiped the tears that had just begun to fall away. She nodded.

"Ok..." she whispered. "Thanks Gippal."

"No problem, that's what we amazingly good-looking best friends are for," said Gippal, flashing his cocky grin. She smiled and slapped his hand gently away from its resting place on her cheek. The two laughed, and Paine's eyes traveled up, to look past the Faction Leader. Her eyes widened immediately.

"Paine, I've been looking all over for you, you just ran off without a word," said the young white-haired man standing feet away. Baralai had come in without the two friends realizing. "You really had me worried." Gippal looked over his shoulder, taking his hand off of Paine's finally.

"Oh hey 'Lai," he said, waving. He glanced between Paine's shocked face and Baralai's much to calm one. He had an obviously fake smile plastered on it. And Gippal knew why.

"I'm surprised to see you here Gippal," said Baralai.

"I was uh...in the neighborhood, and I saw Paine through the window and now...I am going over there!" and Gippal ran off towards a door that Paine assumed led to the bathroom. All the pain that her friend had briefly chased away came back to her as Baralai picked up Gippal's chair and sat in it himself. _What is he following me now? _Paine asked herself, not making eye contact with the man.

"Was I interrupting something?" Baralai asked bitterly.

"Don't...Baralai, just stop it," snapped the warrior. "You know that there is nothing going on between me and Gippal! He is just, unlike you apparently, a good friend."

"Me? You're the one who started this! You punch me, you yell at me, andnow you run off when I need your help! You're mad at me and you have no reason to be! What did I do wrong?" The two both found themselves standing up.

"Everything!" Paine yelled, not knowing what she was saying. "Stop acting like you're always right! Have you ever thought you might be wrong about some things?"

Gippal was standing with his hand on the doorknob to the bathroom. The two people yelling had caught his attention as well as the attention of everyone else in the building. "Apparently!" said Baralai angrily.

"Oh really, well I'm glad you've finally realized that!"

"Yeah, me too! And do you know what I've realized?"

"WHAT?"

"I've realized that you're completely **insane**!" Paine's jaw dropped and Gippal groaned loudly, shaking his head. Insulting the young woman always led to one of three things. They were:Paine storming out of the room; her backhanding her insulter across the face; or she did both very, very quickly. She chose this time to hit him...again.

Everyone in the room was shocked to see their Praetor get slapped. Paine looked at Gippal and gave him a gesture that meant they should leave now. Baralai's fists were clenched as she bypassed him, knocking his shoulder with her own. The bell rang loudly as Paine wrenched the door open. As she slammed it shut she knocked it so hard that it clanged a few times before coming clean off the wall and clattering to the floor.

Gippal looked back at Baralai. "You really are an idiot," he mumbled.

"I didn't do anything," Baralai defended himself. "She's hiding something from me...isn't she?" he asked, having suspected all along. He knew that if anyone knew it was Gippal. Even if he didn't look like it, Gippal could keep a secret.

"She's just having a rough time ok?"

"Well I want to help her!" said Baralai.

"Dude, if what you're doing is trying to help her...then you totally suck at helping people...especially when that person is the girl youreally_ like_," said Gippal. The man left the café as well, leaving Baralai angry and confused in his wake.

* * *

"I just can't believe that jerk!" 

"Ok..."

"He's such a total idiot!"

"Yeah...I get it Paine-"

"And he keeps following me everywhere and its just so...ugh!"

"Paine!" Crystal yelled, causing Paine to stop pacing. "Shut up!" Gippal had dozed off in his chair and woke with a start. Paine had arrived at Djose and immediately ran to Gippal's office, where Crystal was waiting for her, reading a magazine. By the time Gippal had arrived in the room Paine had beganventing her anger towards Baralai, and Crystal had gone back to reading her magazine, occasionally muttering 'Ok...' or something like that. Gippal had never knew Paine to talk so much or so openly about her life. "Please...just take a deep breath and calm yourself."

"Look who's talking," muttered Gippal. Paine sighed deeply, crossing her arms the way she always did. She looked away from Crystal who was standing and leaning against the door.

"There is nothing you can do really," said Crystal. "If you told him he was wrong, he would ask you why...and if you didn't answer correctly then he'd keep bombing you with questions. It's better that you kept your mouth shut."

"Well even though I didn't...eventually he's going to find out that it's me in that picture you too! You just had to take that picture, didn't you..."

"Well that's going to take a very long time," said Crystal knowingly, "so for now just relax. And yes I had to take the picture."

"I think the first thing we should do is find Sierra, before Baralai does," said Gippal. "Who agrees?"

Paine raised her hand slightly in agreement, and Crystal nodded her head. "Definitely," Paine muttered. "If we aren't too late..."

"You really need to work on your attitude."

"That's what I tell her all the time!"

"Shut up, both of you."

* * *

Sierra had ventured out of her small little room, ignoring her growling stomach. There were only two other doors in the larger room, each on opposite sides of the room. One she knew led to the outside world. She knew from the word 'Praetor' that she was back in Bevelle. When she was thirteen she had left her job and home at the Thunder Plains Travel Agency and returned to Bevelle, the place she knew was her hometown. After two years, when she thought she was really adapting to life in Bevelle, it all went wrong. And now here she was...kidnapped. 

The girl wanted to know what was behind the other door. She quickly but silently went over to it, and pushed. It was unlocked and opened with a creek. Sierra gasped. This room was completely different from the other two. It looked like a small apartment. There was another room that she could see led to a bathroom, there was a closet as well. A couch, a large sphere screen, and another closed door that she assumed led to the bedroom. There was even a mini kitchen type thing in one corner of the room. Also there was a mantel with pictures on it, and a large cabinet.

It was the cabinet that drew Sierra's attention. She walked over to it and saw there was a key placed in a keyhole. She turned the key and then opened it. "Wow..." It was full of spheres. There had to be at least twenty of them on shelves. Sierra pulled out the two drawers close to the floor, where even more spheres lay. They were all labeled, and seemed to be divided between Movie Spheres and those that were actually recorded by a camera. She picked up a few of both types and looked at their labels. They were: Ayame's 16th birthday, Pool Party, Sayuri & Auron's First Date, and Rachel's Most Embarrassing Moment. She was so tempted to watch the last one, but knew that would be a bad thing to do... So the girl replaced the spheres where she found them, and closed the closet, locking it.

Sierra suddenly felt tired, and yawned, covering her mouth. Her eyes traveled to the bedroom door. She really shouldn't...but she had not had a comfortable sleep for a long time. Her feet began dragging her towards the door, and she opened it. It was in fact a furnished bedroom, a small ceiling fan turning slowly, keeping the room cool. The large queen-sized bed looked so inviting in the dim lighting of the room.

She collapsed onto it. The pillows were soft and the mattress was so comfortable. Almost immediately the tired teenage girl was asleep.

* * *

The white haired woman walked into her lab, a plate of food in her hand. She was gnawing absentmindedly on a carrot from the plate. But she almost dropped it when she saw that her door was open. She looked to the room where Sierra was being held, and found its door ajar as well. 

She stormed across the large room and into her living room. Ready to yell at the girl but she stopped again, mouth open. Sierra was not in the room. Sneaking towards her bedroom she looked inside.

Sierra was snoozing away on the bed. The woman's cold green eyes softened upon seeing her there. She looked down at her plate full of food. There was still a lot of food left on it. Glancing back at her prisoner she walked over to the bedside and placed it on the table next to it. Sierra had apparently not eaten in a long time, and the woman was so busy she had forgotten to at least feed her.

Sierra shivered at that moment. So the woman reached under her bed and pulled out a blanket, and gently placed it over her, making sure to cover her bare feet.

"Ayame, you are such a sap..." she told herself quietly. Straightening up she walked back to the door. Again she looked back at Sierra. "You look so much like your mother..." she whispered, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "But don't think that changes anything." Then she walked out, turning off the light and closing the door gently behind her.


End file.
